Trip to Houston.

Location, At home, CA

Almost a month since I last posted. I know, I know, but I have been busy.

The trip to Houston went just fine. We did have a delay of about an hour for our flight from Phoenix to Houston which put us in late. Tim met us at baggage claim and drove us to his house. After a little wine and cheese which sufficed for dinner we went to bed. Friday was laid back while we delivered fast food lunches for the Grandkids at their respective schools. Don’t ask me how that got started.

Saturday was Ivy’s soccer game which was South towards Katy, TX. It actually was not out of the way to go from there to the ship. Tim delivered us to the ship after Ivy’s game finished.

We had an easy and fast embarkation which allowed us to get a late lunch at the buffet before muster drill.

As we were leaving our cabin, our steward introduced himself and said he would have a glass of champagne waiting when we returned. We thought “yeah, sure”. Late I happened to look in the small refrigerator and sure enough, there were two glasses of champagne waiting for us. How nice to start our trip that way. Later in the week a bottle of champagne showed up in our refrigerator. No explanation so we ordered extra orange juice and breakfast in the room one morning and had mimosas for breakfast. Really decadent!

Two days at sea found us at our first stop of Cozumel, MX where we rode a catamaran along the coast then transferred to a bus for an island tour. After the tour we grabbed a margarita and chips with salsa at a local stand.

Our ship, Caribbean Princess 

The next day we were in Roatan, Honduras where Clyda went swimming or should I say wading, with the dolphins while I toured the island visiting an Iguana farm and a private beach development called Parrot Bay. Low key but ok.

Our last stop was at Belize City where we had to tender in because of the shallow water. We both took an airboat ride outside the city to a wetlands area. Again, low key but enjoyable.

 Loading the airboat

 

 Smile!

Our trip back to Houston was enjoyable as the ocean was like a bath tub. Not a wave in sight. It really brought out the sun bathers on all decks.

We enjoyed playing trivia every afternoon and did quite well sometimes. After dinner each evening we stopped at the Crooners Lounge to listen to Bert Stratton play and sing. We first met Bert on our cruise to Alaska in 2001. He is quit the entertainer!

Arriving back in Houston we were off the ship by 8 AM and boarded a bus for Bush International Airport to pick up a rental car for the weekend. We drove directly to Matthews’s soccer game then after the game back to Tim’s house. The remainder of Sat and Sunday was low key. On Monday evening we all went to dinner at Macaroni Grill. Matthew asked us all to dress up for the occasion and just before we left for the restaurant we found out he had asked his girlfriend to go also. It turned out to be a nice evening with everyone dressed up.

Tuesday morning at 5:30 AM we left for the airport and an 8 AM flight to Phoenix. We arrived home just about noon.

It was a nice trip but the best part of it was spending time with Matthew and Ivy. Both are great kids. If we were only closer!

Not much urge to write.

Location, At home, CA

The urge to write deserted me this past week or so.

After my trip to Wisconsin, I got a cold. Haven’t had one of those in a long time especially the sore throat, cough, head-in-a-vise type of cold. Mostly I laid around the house and read.

I did manage to buy on-line a new cover for our gazebo. The old one lasted 3 years but the sun finally got to it. Craig had reinforced the pockets where the roof poles were inserted which helped. This time I also bought a UV protectorant and sprayed the whole material before I installed it. Craig again also reinforced the pockets so hopefully we will get 3 or 4 years out of this cover. Clyda has been after us to get the cover up as it protects the plants on the patio.

I ran the Honda generators yesterday. They were last used while I was in Quartzsite in January. It took a few more pulls to get them started but both ran fine.

Some time ago Clyda said “Why don’t we fly to Houston in April to see Tim and family?” That got me to thinking so I checked the Princess website to see if there was a cruise scheduled out of Houston during our visit. Well, yes there is! So I checked prices and booked a 7 day cruise through Costco. Got a good deal on a mini-suite. This will be a first for us as usually we book a balcony.

We will fly to Houston on Wednesday; visit the family until Saturday when we board the ship. The following Saturday we return from the cruise and transfer to Bush International Airport and pick up a rental car. We will keep the car until our return flight early Monday Morning.

All of this sounds simple until you know the details. Our original flight was on American Airlines. I bought Clyda a ticket using her miles plus a few more I purchased for her. My ticket was bought for a higher price as no seat was available at the regular price. American then announced they were ceasing operations April 1^st at our local airport so I called and had our flights changed to USAIR. Of course we lost any advantage we had through American such as seat selection, etc.

Also, during all this, the oil spill in Galveston Bay kept our cruise ship from leaving for 3 days. This however has all been cleared up and we should be good to go next Saturday.

Meanwhile, Tim and family are on a cruise around New Zealand courtesy of Diane’s parents. They were due home this afternoon but got delayed a day because of an over booked flight. Qantas Airlines put them up in a hotel overnight and booked them in business class for the trip home on the Airbus A-380, a double decker airplane. Business class has lie-flat seats so you can sleep. I am so jealous!!!!

Tim just called from Sydney to update us on their schedule. They will be home tomorrow afternoon after 13 hours in the air to Los Angeles and then a 3 hour flight to Houston. unfortunately, that gets them home only 2 days before we get there. I am sure we will all survive.

End of an era.

Location, At home, CA

It is indeed an end of an era.

My mother passed away on March 6^th. She would have been 98 years old on March 30^th. She had been doing quite well but the last few weeks found her on Hospice care at the retirement home.  She had quit eating and that in itself signals the end. She was in no discomfort and passed with her children at her side (except for me).

I made hurried travel arrangements to Central Wisconsin for Saturday as the funeral was scheduled for Monday morning. There were a few hiccups in the travel as I missed my flight out of Chicago so had to stay in a hotel arranged by the airline until Sunday afternoon.

Monday was nice and warm at 53 degrees so no freezing weather to put up with at the cemetery. There were about 100 family and friends at the church for the funeral mass and about 75 for lunch afterward.

On Tuesday my sister Judy and brother Ray met at Judy’s house and got all the cards and thank you’s arranged. On Friday they and my brother Dennis met at my hotel and went over the final details of closing out an era.

I returned home on Friday about midnight.

Sort of a lost week.

Location, At home, CA

Sort of a lost week.

Not much got done this week. Just a few odd jobs around the yard and house and a few more in the RV. I did scrub the shower and sinks and dump the tanks last Sunday and vacuumed then vacuumed the floor.

During the week I replaced the stove vent on the outside of the RV. The old one was yellowed and partially broken. I had picked up a new one in Quartzsite for $7.95. Before installing it I painted it white with plastic paint which comes in a spray can. I also had to replace all the old caulking which required some ingenuity on my part. I had caulking but it was old and in lumps. I put it out in the sun for a while to soften it then rolled it out into long rolls like Play Dough. I need it to be thin strips so I flattened the rolls with a wine bottle to the required thickness then cut narrow strips with a knife. This worked well. After installing the vent I caulked around it so no water can penetrate the wall.

I also moved some of our larger ice chests from the garage to shelves in the outside shed to make room for a few more items in the garage. I am trying to get all our food preparation equipment (which is seldom used) in one place.

Today I finally tackled the problem of excess computers. I removed the hard drives from my old XP machine which has just been sitting there for 2 years or more in preparation for taking it to the recycler. I am hanging on to my old Dell XP laptop for the foreseeable future as I use it to run my slide copier. I also got rid of some extra card board boxes I have been hanging on to.

Not a biggy but progress never the less.

Update for this past week.

Location, At home, CA

The wind was still blowing out of the west when I left Boron at 7 AM last Saturday but it was not gusting so I took my time and didn’t push it. There was little traffic at that hour so no long line of vehicles behind me to worry about.

After fueling in Mojave I drove to I-5 on Hwy 138 again against the wind. I stopped near I-5 to have breakfast before I started down the Grapevine to Hwy 126. A short stop in Fillmore and I headed towards home arriving about noon.

I have spent the last week unloading the RV, vacuuming and dumping tanks. I think I am ready for the next trip.

I finally downloaded some photos I took on the last ATV ride. These have been on my cell phone as I forgot to take my camera with me. It is too bad I didn’t get photos of us crossing the water holes in the Bill Williams River. Our ATV’s looked more like amphibious vehicles than ATV’s.

The Venice (known as Venus) McDuffies cabin.

 

Cabin history.

A gaggle of ATV's.

 The McDuffie cabin was located at a deadend road with no way out except to back track all the way we had traveled. We had hoped to go on through and make a circle route for the day. As it turned out, we traveled about 70 miles all told. Quit a long trip and by far the longest I have done on an ATV.

Heading home.

Location, Boron, CA

Headed home.

I am on my way home after 12 days at Jack and Judy’s winter residence near Bouse, AZ. I am breaking my trip up into 3 legs which should put me home on Saturday in the early afternoon.

I spent last night in Needles, CA at the Elks Club. They have 6 pull through sites with water and electricity. By stopping there I could drive across the Colorado River to the Arizona side and buy diesel much cheaper than in CA although not as cheap as in Quartzsite. I paid $4.24 in Mohave Valley just over the bridge from Needles while fuel in Needles was $4.69. Fuel in Quartzsite was $3.84.

I will fuel up in Mojave tomorrow.

I arrived here in Boron about 12:30 PM after driving in wind for the last 40 miles. I am glad to be off the road as we are having gusts to 45 MPH now. The rig is rocking and rolling as I write this.

My plan is to get up early and hit the road hopefully before the wind comes up.

On Wednesday we had a final (for me) ATV ride. After trailering the ATV’s about 20 miles, we road to the Bill Williams River past the ghost town of Swansea and further on to a deserted cabin. We had to ford the river in 3 spots to continue the ride. None of us got our feet wet but we did all put our feet on the front fenders to stay out of the water.

At one point we were within sight of Alamo Lake which is a long way east of our starting point. Unfortunately, we could find no way to complete a loop ride and decided to back track the same way we had come. Jack did add a few new routes on the way back which added interest.

In all we rode 70 miles which is the longest I have ever ridden. I woke up yesterday morning with my hands twitching from holding on to the handle bars tightly all day. We all had similar problems.

After packing the trailer and getting everything ready to roll I stopped by Bill and Karen’s, and Gary and Norma’s to say goodbye. I also said goodbye to John and Connie and finally to Jack and Judy. I owe them a debt beyond measure for allowing me to stay at their River Front Campsite (private joke) for those 12 days.

Coasting in Bouse.

Location, Bouse, AZ

Greetings from Bouse, AZ.

The weather has returned to the usual Arizona winter weather of cold nights with warm days and wind. However, at the moment there is no wind.

I have been spending my days reading and visiting with Jack and Judy. In the evening I have been doing something I rarely do and that is watching some DVD’s Judy loaned me.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and we will watch the game at Jack and Judy’s RV.

We do have another ATV ride scheduled for Tuesday. It will be a long ride requiring trailering the ATV’s to the area we want to explore. It is much easier to do that than riding all the way from here.

I have a few photos from last weeks ride. There were nine of us on that ride.

 

View from Picnic Point near Hope , AZ